Optical recording/reproducing apparatus in which data will not become unable to be read out in case an SDL fails to be renewed

ABSTRACT

An optical recording/reproducing apparatus including an optical recording medium having an alternating area in which information may be recorded instead of the normal recording area when the information fails to be recorded in the normal recording area, and a plurality of control regions in which position information of the recording area having failed to record information and position information of the alternating area in which the information failed to be recorded is recorded instead of the recording area. The apparatus records the information in a predetermined information recording area of the optical recording area, reproduces the predetermined information, collates the information intended to be recorded with the reproduced predetermined information, and judges that the predetermined information was not correctly recorded in the predetermined recording area. The apparatus also performs alternating processing to record the information in the alternating area in case it is judged that the information was not correctly recorded, and carries out a renewal operation with at least one region remaining among a plurality of the control regions, renewing remaining control regions when the renewal operations succeed and not renewing the remaining control regions when the renewal operation fails.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to improvements in an opticalrecording/reproducing apparatus wherein it is judged whether an opticalrecording medium has been used or not and data are recorded orreproduced.

2. Description of Related Art

Recently there has come to be practiced an optical recording/reproducingapparatus wherein, by condensing and radiating a light beam, forexample, of a laser light on an optical recording medium, for example,through an optical system lens, data are recorded in the recordingmedium in which, for example, a hole is made or, by the reflected lightfrom the above described hole, the recorded data can be reproduced. Inthe following, a disc-like optical disc shall be described as an exampleof the above mentioned recording medium.

The above mentioned optical disc is formed of a synthetic resin or thelike to be substantially like a disc of a diameter, for example, ofabout 30 cm and is characterized in that the shape is small and the datamemorizing capacity is large. Therefore, the optical disc drivingapparatus recording/reproducing data in this optical disc is used as anauxiliary memorizing apparatus in such computer system as, for example,an image filing system.

In the case of recording data in this optical disc, if the optical discis divided, for example, into sector units and a physical position(called a physical address hereinafter) is designated to each sector,writing will be made to the physical address of the usually used sectorand, in order to judge whether this writing is accurately made or not,just after this writing, there will be made a collating operation ofreading and collating the physical address and data. The timing of thewriting and reading is that the writing will be made when the abovementioned sector is positioned in an optical head writing data into theabove mentioned optical disc and the reading will be made when the abovementioned sector is positioned in an optical head reading data out ofthe above mentioned optical disc. That is to say, in case the writingoptical head and reading optical head are the same, when the opticaldisc makes one rotation, a collating operation will be made. Also, thephysical address is usually a combination of a track which is aperipheral position of the above mentioned optical disc and a sectornumber given to each of the sectors dividing the track number given tothis track into a predetermined number.

In the above described collating operation, a writing error may begenerated in case the written data can not be detected or in case anerror exceeding the range which can be corrected is generated eventhough it is intended to correct errors of the read data. Also, in casethe above described writing is to be carried out, a writing error whichcannot detect the physical address of the usually used sector may begenerated.

Therefore, the physical address of the sector which is an alternate ofthe physical address of the usually used sector is determined and analternating process for writing into this alternating sector thecontents of the sector in which a writing error has been generated iscarried out. This alternating sector may be a sector near the usuallyused sector or may be a separately determined sector separated from theusually used sector.

In case the above described alternating process is made, data mentioningthe contrast of the physical address of the usually used sector and thephysical address of the alternating sector will be recorded in apredetermined physical address of the above mentioned optical disc.

For example, SDL (Secondary Defect List) formats mentioning the physicaladdresses in the above mentioned optical disc recording data mentioningthe contrast of the physical address of the usually used sector and thephysical address of the alternating sector are regulated in 14, 4, 3 and3 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC23N292 of ISO (International StandardizationOrganization). According to this, the above mentioned SDL is regulatedto be provided in four places in an optical disc system controllingarea.

It is suggested in the publication, for example, of Japanese PatentApplication Laid Open No. 205741/1985 that, in case the above describedalternating process is made, data mentioning the contrast of thephysical address of the usually used sector and the physical address ofthe alternating sector will be recorded in the above mentioned opticaldisc.

In case the above described alternating process is generated, the abovementioned SDL will be renewed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an opticalrecording/reproducing apparatus wherein, even in case a DDS cannot bedetected, it will be judged again whether an optical recording mediumhas not been used and, in case it is judged that the optical recordingmedium has not been used, the optical recording medium will be operatedto be initialized, characterized in that data already recorded in theoptical recording medium can be prevented from being read according to awrong judgment.

An object of the present invention is to provide an opticalrecording/reproducing apparatus wherein, even in case the SDL fails tobe renewed, the SDL before it will not become unable to be read out.

Briefly, the present invention comprises:

an optical head provided with a light beam generating means generating acondensable light beam, an optical system radiating the above mentionedoptical beam to an optical recording medium and a light detectorreceiving a returning light from the above mentioned optical recordingmedium;

a signal outputting means for outputting a recording signalcorresponding to the recorded information to be recorded in the abovementioned light beam generating means and a controlling signalcorresponding to the controlling information controlling the abovementioned recorded information;

a reproduced information producing means for producing reproducedinformation corresponding to the information recorded in the abovementioned recording medium from the reproducing signal output from theabove mentioned light detector;

a first judging means wherein, when it is collated by a collating meanswhether reproduced information obtained by using the above mentionedreproduced information producing means the information temporarilyrecorded in the target recording area of the above mentioned opticalrecording medium coincides with the information before the recordingwithin an error correcting capacity or not, in case the above mentionedreproduced information does not coincide with the information before therecording within the error correcting capacity, it will be judgedwhether the above mentioned target recording area is a defectiverecording area or a non-defective recording area;

an alternating processing means wherein, in case the above mentionedtarget recording area is judged by the above mentioned first judgingmeans to be a defective recording area, controlling informationcontrolling the correspondence of the alternate recording areaalternating the above mentioned target recording area and the abovementioned target recording area will be renewed, the renewed controllinginformation will be memorized by an information memorizing means, theinformation recorded in the above mentioned target recording area willbe temporarily recorded in the above mentioned alternating recordingarea and the controlling information recorded in the controllinginformation recording area of the above mentioned optical recordingmedium will be renewed;

a controlling information detecting means for detecting the abovementioned controlling information recorded in the above mentionedcontrolling information recording area renewed by the above mentionedalternating processing means by using the above mentioned reproducedinformation producing means;

a second judging means wherein, in case the above mentioned controllinginformation is not detected by the above mentioned controllinginformation detecting means, it will be judged by using the abovementioned collating means whether the above mentioned reproducedinformation producing means is normal or not and it will be judgedwhether the above mentioned reproduced information producing means isabnormal or the above mentioned optical recording medium is abnormal;and

an initializing means wherein, in case the above mentioned opticalrecording medium is judged by the above mentioned second judging meansto be abnormal, the above mentioned controlling information recordingarea of the above mentioned optical recording medium will beinitialized.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed explanations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 11 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a formation diagram of a small disc driving apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a concrete formation of an addressdiscriminating/error detecting circuit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a small disc driving apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of an optical disc.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an optical disc recording type.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of SDL data.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of an optical disc recording type.

FIGS. 8 to 11 are flow charts relating to the control of an optical discdriving apparatus.

FIG. 12 relates to the second embodiment of the present invention and isa flow chart relating to the control of an optical disc drivingapparatus.

FIG. 13 relates to the first and second embodiments of the presentinvention and is a formation diagram showing the formation of aphotomagnetic disc driving apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown by the reference numeral 20, for example, in FIG. 1, an opticaldisc driving apparatus comprises an inserting port 21 through which arecording medium 22 which is, for example, an optical disc is insertedand discharged, a recording and reproducing means 24 forrecording/reproducing data in the above mentioned recording medium, acollating means 25 for reproducing and collating the data recorded bythis recording and reproducing means 24, an alternating processing means26 for alternating processing in case the collated results of the abovementioned collating means 25 do not coincide, a memory controlling means27 for memorizing in a later described memorizing means data of an SDL23 recorded in the above mentioned recording medium 22 when the abovementioned recording medium 22 is inserted through the above mentionedinserting port 21 and when a later described power source 22 is put inin case the above mentioned recording medium 22 is inserted, amemorizing means 28 for memorizing a physical address (called an addresshereinafter) in the above mentioned memorizing medium of the abovementioned SDL 23 and the like, a bus line b transmitting respectivelythe signals of a later described interface (called an I/F hereinafter) 1and later described microprocessor (called a CPU) 6, a CPU 6 operatingand controlling signals from the above mentioned recording/reproducingmeans 24, collating means 25, alternating processing means 26,memorizing controlling means 27 and a later described I/F 1, an I/F 1connecting the signal of the above mentioned bus line b and an uppercomputer system, for example, not illustrated and inputting andoutputting signals, a bus line b3 transmitting signals of the abovementioned I/F and above described computer system not illustrated and apower source 29 feeding power to the respective blocks of the abovementioned optical disc driving apparatus.

The above mentioned recording/reproducing means 24, collating means 25,alternating processing means 26, memorizing controlling means 27, I/F 1and CPU 6 are connected through the bus line b.

As shown, for example, in FIG. 3, the optical disc driving apparatus 20comprises an optical disc recording/reproducing unit 8 and a disccontrolling apparatus 8a which is connected with a host computer 8b by abus line b3 and signal line c3 through the above mentioned I/F 1 so asto transmit data.

The above mentioned optical disc recording/reproducing unit 8 is rotatedand driven by a spindle motor 9a. An optical head 9b is arranged asopposed to one surface of the optical disc 9 which is the abovementioned recording medium 22 and is movable in the radial direction ofthe optical disc 9 by such head feeding mechanism as a voice coil motornot illustrated so as to be able to have access to any track of theoptical disc 9.

In the above mentioned optical head 9b, a light beam of a laser diode 9hgenerating a condensable light beam is made a parallel light by acollimating lens 9f, then enters a polarizing beam splitter 9e byP-polarization, passes through this polarizing beam splitter 9esubstantially by 100% and is made a circular polarized light beam by a1/4-wavelength plate 9d. This circular polarized light beam is condensedby an objective lens 9c and is radiated to the above mentioned opticaldisc 9.

The light reflected by this optical disc 9 becomes an S-polarized lightthrough the above mentioned objective lens 9c and 1/4-wavelength plate,is reflected substantially by 100% by the above mentioned polarizingbeam splitter 9e and enters a critical angle prism 9g. (By the way, infact, the critical angle prism 9g is arranged in the direction verticalto the paper surface in FIG. 3.) The light reflected by this criticalangle prism 9g is received, for example, by a four-divided lightdetector 9j, is photoelectrically converted and is input into an addingand subtracting circuit 9k to produce a reproduced signal RF, focussingsignal FE and track error signal TE.

The above mentioned disc controlling apparatus 8a comprises an addressdiscriminating/error detecting circuit 2 detecting the later describedID part of the optical disc 9 and correcting errors at the time ofreading, a buffer memory (M) 3 temporarily memorizing data, a datatransfer controlling circuit (M) 4 controlling the transfer of data, amodulating/demodulating circuit 5 modulating written data anddemodulating read data, a CPU 6 operating the respective blocks withinthis apparatus by predetermined procedures and a READ/WRITE circuit 7controlling the radiation of the above mentioned laser diode 9h andprocessing the signal such as shaping the waveform of the reproducedsignal RF.

The above mentioned reproduced signal RF is input into the abovementioned modulating/demodulating circuit 5 through the above mentionedREAD/WRITE circuit 7 and is demodulated. In the recording mode, thismodulating/demodulating circuit 5 modulates data from the host computer8b and then outputs them as a recording signal RS to the optical discrecording/reproducing unit 8 through the above mentioned READ/WRITEcircuit 7.

The above collating means 25 comprises the above mentioned addressdiscriminating/error detecting circuit 2. The above mentionedrecording/reproducing means 24 comprises the above mentionedmodulating/demodulating circuit 5, READ/WRITE circuit 7 and optical discrecording/reproducing unit 8. The above mentioned DDS detecting means 25comprises the CPU 6.

The above mentioned memorizing means 28 comprises the above mentionedbuffer memory (M) 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above mentioned address discriminating/errordetecting circuit 2 comprises an S-P converter 10 converting a serialsignal demodulated by the modulating/demodulating circuit 5 to aparallel signal, an ID comparing circuit 11 detecting the data of the IDpart of the above mentioned optical disc 9 in this parallel signal andcomparing them with a predetermined ID, a data transfer controllingcircuit (S) 12 controlling the transfer of data, an ECC/CRC/Syndromecomparing calculator comparing or calculating the ECC, CRC and syndromeof the above mentioned optical disc, a buffer memory (S) 14 temporarilymemorizing data input into and output from the S-P converter 10, asyndrome buffer 15 temporarily memorizing the above mentioned syndromeand an error correcting/counting circuit 16 correcting data of the abovementioned buffer memory (S) 14 and counting the corrected number.

The above mentioned S-P converter 10 is connected with the abovementioned modulating/demodulating circuit 5 by a signal line s1.

The above mentioned buffer memory (S) 14 is connected to the abovementioned I/F 1 and buffer memory (M) 3 by a bus line b1 and to theabove mentioned data transfer controlling circuit (M) 4 by a signal linec1.

The above mentioned error correcting/counting circuit 16 is connected tothe above mentioned CPU 6 and buffer memory (M) 3 by a bus line b2 andto the above mentioned CPU 6 by a signal line c2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the above mentioned optical disc 9 is divided into aplurality, for example, of concentric circular tracks 40.

As shown in FIG. 5, the above described plurality of tracks 40 aredivided into a system controlling region and user region as defined, forexample, by ISO. The above mentioned system controlling region isprovided with a checking region judging whether the above mentionedoptical disc 9 is normal or not, DDS's (Disc Definition Structures) 41to 44 recording such controlling information as a defective region ofthe optical disc and SDL's (Secondary Defect Lists) 46 to 49 recordingthe data of a defective region defined in 14, 4, 3, 3 of ISO/IECJTC1/SC23N292 and an alternating region corresponding to this defectiveregion.

The above mentioned SDL's 46 to 49 are shown, for example, in FIG. 6 inwhich are recorded the data of an alternated sector address 60 which isa later described alternated physical address and an error generatingsector address 61 which is a physical address of a defective sector.Also, the addresses and data of these SDL's 46 to 49 are to be memorizedin the same manner in the memorizing means shown in FIG. 1.

Further, as shown, for example, in FIG. 7, a sector which is a recordingunit of the above mentioned disc 9 is formed of an ID part comprising aregion 30 of a sector mark (SM), a region 31 of a synchronizing signal(VFO1), a region 32 of an address mark (AM), a region 33 of a physicaladdress (ID+CRC) of the optical disc 9 and a region 34 of asynchronizing signal (VFO2) and a data part comprising a region 35 of asynchronizing signal (VFO3), a region 36 of a synchronizing signal(SYNC) and a region 37 in which data are recorded.

The data written into the optical disc 9 and shown in FIG. 7 are readout by the optical head 8 shown in FIG. 3, are demodulated by themodulating/demodulating circuit 5 through the READ/WRITE circuit 7 andare input into the S-P converter 10 by the signal line s1 shown in FIG.2. Also, in case the data are written into the above mentioned opticaldisc 9, whether the writing is correct will be read out and collated inthe same manner.

The signals input into this S-P converter 10 are serially (in series)arranged data, have the address mark (AM) of the region 32 shown in FIG.7 detected by the S-P converter 10, are converted to parallelly (inparallel) arranged data making, for example, 8 bits 1 byte since the bitjust after this detection and are input into the ID comparing circuit 11and data transferring circuit (S) 12 through a bus line.

The above mentioned ID comparing circuit 11 reads out the region 33 ofthe ID part shown in FIG. 7 of the above mentioned data to obtain anaddress formed of the track number TRK NO. and sector number SECT of theoptical disc 9 in which the data are written.

Further, in the above mentioned ID comparing circuit 11, the address tobe read out set in advance and the above described address are comparedwith each other and, in case they coincide with each other, coincidinginformation will be output to the above mentioned data transferringcircuit (S) 12.

Thereby, the above mentioned data transferring circuit (S) 12 stores theabove mentioned data in the buffer memory (S) 14 through a bus line.

The above mentioned ECC/CRC/Syndrome comparing calculator 13 obtains ECCand CRC signals from the region 37 of the data part shown in FIG. 7 andcalculates the later described CRC and syndrome from the data signal ofthe region 37 of the above mentioned data part. The above described CRCis an error detecting sign of the above mentioned data and the syndromeis of a value determined by the above mentioned data and the errorproduced in the data. Further, in the ECC/CRC/syndrome comparingcalculator 13, the above described syndrome is stored in the syndromebuffer 15 shown in FIG. 2 through the above described syndrome bus lineand the CRC obtained from the above mentioned region 37 and the CRCobtained by the above mentioned calculation are compared with each otherand, in case they do not coincide with each other, non-coincidinginformation will be output to the error correcting/counting circuit 16.

Further, after all the syndrome is calculated, in the above mentionederror correcting/counting circuit 16, by using the syndrome stored inthe syndrome buffer 15 as described above, the above mentioned datastored in the above mentioned buffer memory (S) 14 are corrected and thenumber of the corrected bytes, that is, the number of the erroneousbytes is counted and is output to the CPU 6 shown in FIG. 3 through thebus line b2. The data corrected as described above are stored in thebuffer memory (M) 3 through the bus line b1 shown in FIG. 3.

In the above mentioned buffer memory (M) 3, the above mentioned data areaccumulated by a plurality of addresses (or a plurality of sectors) andare output to the host computer 8b through the I/F.

The operation of the thus formed optical disc driving apparatus shall beexplained.

As shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 6 controls and processes through the busline b the recording/reproducing means 24, collating means 25,processing means 26, memory controlling means 27, memorizing means 28and I/F 1.

In case the recording medium 22 is inserted through the inserting port21 or in case the power source 29 is put in while the above mentionedrecording medium 22 is inserted, the above mentioned CPU will carry outthe process from the step (mentioned as S hereinafter) 150 shown in FIG.8.

First of all, this process shall be explained on the basis of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8.

In the control started by S150, a DDS reading operation is carried outby S151. This DDS reading is made by the above mentionedrecording/reproducing means 24 on the respective DDS's 41 to 44 shown inFIG. 5. First of all, the ID part of the sector shown in FIG. 7 isdetected. In case this ID part can be detected, the data part will beread in and whether this data part is normally read in or not will bedetected. The information of whether the above described ID can bedetected or not, the information of whether the data part is normallyread in or not and the data of the normally read data part are memorizedin the memorizing means 28 shown, for example, in FIG. 1 and the processis continued to S152 shown in FIG. 8.

In the above mentioned S152, it is judged whether at least one of theabove mentioned DDS's 41 to 44 is normally read in or not, that is,whether the DDS can be detected or not. By this judgment, in case theabove mentioned DDS can not be detected, that is, is not yet detected(YES), the process will be continued to S153 but, in case the DDS isdetected (NO), the process will be continued to S161 and will becontinued to S220 shown in FIG. 10 through this S161.

Returning to FIG. 8, in the above mentioned S153 is made an operation toconfirm whether the above mentioned recording/reproducing means 24normally operates or not. In this confirming operation, random datamemorized, for example, in the buffer memory or predetermined pseudodata are written into the confirming region determined in the checkingregion of the system controlling region shown in FIG. 5 and the writtendata are collated by the above mentioned collating means 25. Thereafter,the process is continued to S154.

In the above mentioned S154, it is judged whether the collation resultin the above mentioned S153 by the above mentioned collating means 25 isnormal or not. In case the result is not normal (NO), the process willbe continued to S155. In case it is normal (YES), that is, in case theabove mentioned recording/reproducing means 24 is normally operating,the process will be continued to S160.

In the above mentioned S155, the same operation as in the abovementioned S153 is made and the process is continued to S156. In theabove mentioned S156, the same judgment as in the above mentioned S155is made. In case the operation is not normal (NO), the process will becontinued to S157. In the above mentioned S157, the same operation as inthe above mentioned S153 is made and the process is continued to S158.In the above mentioned S158, the same judgment as in the above mentionedS155 is made. In case the operation is not normal (NO), the process willbe continued to S159.

In the above mentioned S159, as the process of the normalwriting/collating operation has not been carried out in three confirmingregions by the above mentioned S153, S155 and S157, suchrecording/reproducing system as the above mentionedrecording/reproducing means 24 is considered to be abnormal, theabnormal state is output to the host computer 8b through the abovementioned I/F 1 shown, for example, in FIG. 1 and the process iscontinued to S161 shown in FIG. 8. By this S161, all the process ends.

Also, in the above mentioned S160, as the process of the normalwriting/collating operation has been carried out in three confirmingregions by the above mentioned S153, S165 and S167, the recording medium22 is not yet used and is not initialized and the process is continuedto S161. The process is continued to S200 shown in FIG. 9 through this S161.

In the the explanation of the subsequent process, for example, in FIG.5, the SDL 46 is made a first SDL region, SDL 47 is made a second SDLregion, SDL 48 is made a third SDL region and SDL 49 is made a fourthSDL region.

The initializing process is started from S200 as shown in FIG. 9.

In the initializing process started from the above mentioned S200, inS201, 1 is set in the value of N designating the serial number of theSDL and the process is continued to S202 and, in S202, zero is set inthe counter value C which is a number of times of making a normalinitializing process and the process is continued to S203.

In the above mentioned S203, the SDL region of the value of N is erasedand the process is continued to S204 together with the information ofwhether this erasing process is normally made or not.

In the above mentioned S204, it is judged whether the erasing process inthe above mentioned S203 is normally made or not. In case it is madenormally (YES), the process will be continued to S205. In case aphysical address can not be detected in the erasing process of the abovementioned S203 and the process is not normally made (NO), the processwill be continued to a later described S211.

In the above mentioned S205, initial value data are written into the SDLregion of the value of N and the process is continued to S206 togetherwith the information of whether this writing process is normally made ornot.

In the above mentioned S206, it is judged whether the writing process inthe above mentioned S205 is normally made or not. In case it is normallymade (YES), the process will be continued to S207. In case a physicaladdress can not be detected in the writing process of the abovementioned S205 and the process is not normally made (NO), the processwill be continued to a later described S211.

In the above mentioned S207, the initial value data written in the abovementioned S205 are collated and the process is continued to S208together with the information of whether the initial value data arenormally written in or not.

In the above mentioned S208, it is judged whether the initial value dataare normally written in or not. In case they are normally written in(YES), the process will be continued to S209. In case the read dataexceed the error correcting range in the collating process of the abovementioned S207 and the process is not made normally (NO), the processwill be continued to a later described S211.

In the above mentioned S209, the physical address of the region of theSDL of the value of N is memorized by the above mentioned memorizingmeans 28 shown in FIG. 1 and the process is continued to S210.

In the above mentioned S210, 1 is added to the above mentioned countervalue C and the process is continued to S211.

In the above mentioned S211, 1 is added to the value of the abovementioned N and the process is continued to S212.

In the above mentioned S212, it is judged whether the value of the abovementioned N exceeds 4 or not, that is, whether the initializing processhas ended until the fourth SDL or not. In case it has not ended (NO),the process from the above mentioned S203 will be repeated. In case ithas ended (YES), the process will be continued to S213.

In the above mentioned S213, it is judged whether the above mentionedcounter value C is zero or not. In case it is zero, that is, in case theinitializatioin of the above mentioned SDL 23 has not succeeded (YES),the process will be continued to S214. In case it is not zero, that is,in case the initialization of at least one SDL has succeeded, theprocess will be continued to S215. By S215, all the process ends.

In the above mentioned S214, the recording medium 22 is considered to beabnormal, this abnormal state is output to the host computer 8b throughthe above mentioned I/F 1 shown, for example, in FIG. 1 and the processis continued to S215 shown in FIG. 9. By this S215, all the processends.

There shall be explained the process shown in FIG. 10 and continued fromS161 shown in FIG. 8 in case the recording medium 22 is inserted throughthe inserting port 21 as described above or in case the power source 29is put in while the above mentioned recording medium 22 is inserted.

In the process started from the above mentioned S220, 1 is set in thevalue of N which is a serial number of the SDL in S221. The process iscontinued to S222.

In the above mentioned S222, SDL data are read in from the SDL region ofthe value of N and the process is continued to S223 together with theinformation of whether this reading process has been normally made ornot.

In the above mentioned S223, it is judged whether the collating processin the above mentioned S222 is normally made or not. In case it isnormally made (YES), the process will be continued to a later describedS227. In case the data read out in the reading process of the abovementioned S222 exceed the error correcting range and the process is notnormally made (NO), the process will be continued to S224.

In the above mentioned S225, it is judged whether the value of the abovementioned N is below 4 or not. In case it is below 4 when the process ofreading in all SDL's has not ended (YES), the process from S222 will berepeated. In case the process of reading in all SDL's has all failed,that is, in case the value of N exceeds 4 (NO), the process will becontinued to S226.

In the above mentioned S224, 1 is added to the value of the abovementioned N and the process is continued to S225.

In the above mentioned S226, the recording medium 22 is considered to beabnormal, this abnormal state is output to the host computer 8b throughthe above mentioned I/F 1 shown, for example, in FIG. 1 and the processis continued to S228 shown in FIG. 10. By this S228, all the processends.

In the above mentioned S227, the physical address of the region of theSDL of the value of N is memorized by the above mentioned memorizingmeans 28 shown in FIG. 1 and the process is continued to S228 shown inFIG. 10. By S228, the process ends.

Here, in case the SDL is to be renewed, the process from S240 shown inFIG. 11 will be started.

In the process started from the above mentioned S240, in S241, 1 is setin the value of N designating the serial number of the SDL and theprocess is continued to S242. In S242, zero is set in the counter valueC which is a number of times of normally making the renewing process andthe process is continued to S243.

In the above mentioned S243, the value of N and M which is the serialnumber of the SDL normally read in as described above are compared witheach other. In case they coincide with each other (YES), the processwill be continued to a later described S248. In case they do notcoincide with each other (NO), the process will be continued to S244.

In the above mentioned S244, the SDL data of the SDL region of the valueof N are renewed and the process is continued to S245 together with theinformation of whether this renewing process is normally made or not.

In the above mentioned S245, it is judged whether the renewing processin the above mentioned S244 is normally made or not. In case it isnormally made (YES), the process will be continued to S246. In case thedata read out in the renewing process of the above mentioned S244 exceedthe error correcting range and the process is not normally made (NO),the process will be continued to a later described S248.

In the above mentioned S246, 1 is added to the above mentioned countervalue C and the process is continued to S247.

In the above mentioned S247, the SDL address of the region in which therenewing process has succeeded in the above mentioned S244 is memorizedin the memorizing means 28 shown, for example, in FIG. 1.

Returning to FIG. 11, in the above mentioned S247, when the abovedescribed process ends, the process will be continued to S248.

In the above mentioned S248, 1 is added to the value of the abovementioned N and the process is continued to S249.

In the above mentioned S249, it is judged whether the value of the abovementioned N exceeds 4 or not. In case it does not exceed 4, that is, incase the other SDL's than the above mentioned M are not renewed at all(NO), the process from the above mentioned S243 will be repeated but, incase it exceeds 4, that is, in case the other SDL's than the abovementioned M are renewed (YES), the process will be continued to S250.

In the above mentioned S250, it is judged whether the value C of theabove mentioned counter is zero or not. In case this counter value C iszero, that is, in case the renewing process for the SDL's of the otherregions than the above mentioned M for which the last renewing processhas succeeded has failed (YES), the process will be continued to a laterdescribed S252. In case the above mentioned counter value C is above 1,that is, in case the renewing process for the SDL of at least one of theother regions than the above mentioned M for which the last renewingprocess has succeeded has succeeded (NO), the process will be continuedto S251.

In the above mentioned S251, the data of the SDL of the region of theabove mentioned M are renewed and the process is continued to S253together with the information of whether this renewing process has beennormally made or not. In the above mentioned S253, it is judged whetherthe renewing process in the above mentioned S251 has been normally madeor not. In case the data read out in the renewing process of the abovementioned S251 exceed the error correcting range and the renewingprocess is not normally made (NO), the process will be continued to alater described S254. In case it is normally made (YES), the processwill be continued to S255. By this S255, all the renewing process forthe SDL ends.

In the above mentioned S254, as the SDL data of the region of the abovementioned M have not been able to be renewed, the value of the abovementioned M is converted to the value memorized in the above mentionedS247 and the process is continued to S255. By this S255, all therenewing process for the SDL ends.

In the above mentioned S252, as the SDL data of the other regions than Mfor which the last renewal has succeeded have not been able to berenewed, the above mentioned recording medium 22 is considered to beabnormal and this abnormal state is output to the host computer 8bthrough the above mentioned I/F 1 shown, for example, in FIG. 1. By S255shown in FIG. 11, all the process ends.

That is to say, there is an effect that, in case the SDL data of theregions other than the region for which the last renewal has succeededhave not been able to be renewed, the SDL data for which the lastrenewal has succeeded will not be renewed but the SDL data onegeneration before will be able to be kept.

In the second embodiment, the same as in the first embodiment, in casethe SDL is to be renewed, the process from S260 shown in FIG. 12 will bestarted.

By the process started from the above mentioned S260, 1 is set in thevalue of N designating the serial number of the SDL in S261 and theprocess is continued to S262.

In the above mentioned S262, the value of N and M which is the serialnumber of the normally read SDL as described above are compared witheach other. In case they coincide with each other (YES), the processwill be continued to a later described S265. In case they do notcoincide (NO), the process will be continued to S263.

In the above mentioned S263, the SDL data of the SDL region of the valueof N are renewed and the process is continued to S264 together with theinformation of whether this renewing process is normally made or not.

In the above mentioned S264, it is judged whether the renewing processin the above mentioned S263 is normally made or not. In case the dataread out in the renewing process of the above mentioned S263 exceed theerror correcting range and the process is not normally made (NO), theprocess will be continued to S265. In case it is normally made (YES),the process will be continued to a later described S268.

In the above mentioned S265, 1 is added to the value of the abovementioned N and the process is continued to S266.

In the above mentioned S266, it is judged whether the value of the abovementioned N exceeds 4 or not. In case it does not exceed 4, that is, allthe other SDL's than the above mentioned M are not renewed (NO), theprocess from the above mentioned S262 will be repeated. In case itexceeds 4, that is, the other SDL's than the above mentioned M arerenewed (YES), the process will be continued to S267.

In the above mentioned S267, as the SDL data of the other regions than Mwhich has succeeded in the last renewal have not been able to berenewed, the above mentioned recording medium 22 is considered to beabnormal and this abnormal state is output to the host computer 8bthrough the above mentioned I/F 1 shown, for example, in FIG. 1. By S273shown in FIG. 12, all the process ends.

In the above mentioned S268, the SDL address of the region for which therenewing process has succeeded in the above mentioned S268 is memorizedin the memorizing means 28 shown, for example, in FIG. 1.

Returning to FIG. 12, in the above mentioned S268, when the abovedescribed process ends, the process will be continued to S269.

In the above mentioned S269, the SDL data of the other regions than theregions for which the renewing process has succeeded in S263 includingthe above mentioned M are all renewed and the process is continued toS270.

In the above mentioned S270, the data of the SDL of the region of theabove mentioned M are collated and the process is continued to S271together with the information of whether this collating process isnormally made or not. In the above mentioned S271, it is judged whetherthe collating process in the above mentioned S270 is normally made ornot. In case the data read out in the collating process in the abovementioned S270 exceed the error correcting range and the collatingprocess is not normally made (NO), the process will be continued to alater described S272. In case it is normally made (YES), the processwill be continued to S273. By this S273, the SDL renewing process allends.

In the above mentioned S272, as the SDL data of the region of the abovementioned M have not been able to be renewed, the value of the abovementioned M is changed to the value memorized in the above mentionedS268 and the process is continued to S273. By this S273, the SDLrenewing process all ends.

That is to say, in case one of the other SDL regions than the SDL regionwhich has succeeded in the last renewal has been able to be renewed, theother SDL regions will be renewed en bloc and therefore there will be aneffect that the process will be simple.

The other formations, operations and effects are the same as in theabove described embodiment.

By the way, in this embodiment, the explanation has been made by usingan optical disc as an optical recording medium but, as shown in FIG. 13,it may be a photomagnetic disc driving apparatus using a photomagneticdisc 9'.

In a photomagnetic disc recording/reproducing unit 8' in place of theoptical disc recording/reproducing unit 8 in FIG. 8, a photomagneticdisc 9' is used in place of the optical disc 9 and has a photomagnetichead 9b' arranged opposite one surface and a bias magnetic fieldapplying apparatus 61 for applying a bias magnetic field arrangedopposite the other surface.

In the above mentioned photomagnetic head 9b', a half prism 9e' is usedin place of the polarizing beam splitter 9e in the optical head 9b and alight having passed through this half prism 9e' does not pass through a1/4-wavelength plate 9d but is condensed by an objective lens 9c and isradiated to a photomagnetic disc 9. The returning light from thephotomagnetic disc 9' passes through a 1/4-wavelength plate 62 rotatingthe polarizing direction by 45 degrees, passes then through a polarizingbeam prism 63 and is received respectively by light detectors 64a and64b so that a reproducing signal may be obtained by a differentialoutput having passed the lights of these light detecctors 64a and 64bthrough a differential amplifier 65.

The other formations are substantially the same as in the firstembodiment.

It is apparent that, in this invention, working modes different in awide range can be formed on the basis of this invention withoutdeviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. This invention isnot restricted by others than the embodiments defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A controlling information judging method for anoptical recording/reproducing apparatus having an optical recordingmedium comprising:a first process of recording information in aninformation recording part of a target recording area; a second processof reproducing the information recorded in said information recordingpart of said target recording area in said first process, comparing itwith the unrecorded information and judging whether the recordedinformation coincides with the unrecorded information within apredetermined error correcting range; a third process of recording saidinformation recorded in said information recording part of said targetrecording area in an alternating information recording part of saidalternating recording area whenever the recorded information does notcoincide with the unrecorded information within said predetermined errorcorrecting range, and recording controlling information includingaddress information of said information recording part and of saidalternating information recording part in a controlling informationrecording part; a fourth process of judging whether or not saidcontrolling information can be reproduced by whether or not saidcontrolling information having reproduced said controlling informationrecorded in said controlling information recording part by said thirdprocess coincides with said controlling information before the recordingwithin a predetermined error correcting range; and a fifth process ofrecording data memorized in a buffer memory written in said controllinginformation recording part of said optical recording medium in case saidcontrolling information is judged in the fourth process to be unable tobe reproduced, reproducing said data recorded in said informationrecording part, comparing it with that before the recording, judgingwhether or not said optical recording medium is abnormal or said opticalrecording/reproducing apparatus is abnormal by collating said reproduceddata to determine whether data to be recorded coincides with saidreproduced data within a predetermined error correcting range andinitializing said optical recording medium in case said opticalrecording medium is abnormal.
 2. A controlling information judgingmethod according to claim 1 wherein said controlling information is aDDS (Disc Definition Structure) defined in 14, 4, 3, 1 of ISO/IECJTC1/SC23N292 and SDL (Secondary Defect List) defined in 14, 4, 3, 3 ofISO/IEC JTC1/SC23N292.
 3. A controlling information judging methodaccordin to claim 2 wherein the initialization of said optical recordingmedium records an initial value in said SDL.
 4. A controllinginformation judging method according to claim 1 or 2 wherein said fourthprocess repeats a plurality of times the judgment of whether or not saidcontrolling information can be reproduced.
 5. An opticalrecording/reproducing apparatus comprising:an optical recording mediumhavinga recording area in which information is recorded, an alternatingarea in which said information is recorded instead of the recording areawhen said information fails to be recorded in the recording area, and aplurality of control regions in which position information of therecording area having failed to record information and positioninformation of the alternating area in which the information failed tobe recorded is recorded instead of said recording area; recording meansfor recording the information in a predetermined information recordingarea of said optical recording medium; a reproducing means forreproducing said information which is recorded from said predeterminedinformation recording area; a collating means for collating saidinformation intended to be recorded with said reproduced informationobtained by said reproducing means and judging that said information wasnot correctly recorded in said predetermined recording area; analternating processing means for alternating processing to record saidinformation in said alternating area by said recording means in a caseit was judged that the information was not correctly recorded by saidcollating means; a control region renewing means for renewing thecontents of said control regions by said recording means, wherein therenewing is carried out by said alternating processing means, saidcontrol region renewing means carries out a renewal operation with atleast one region remaining among a plurality of said control regions,renewing remaining control regions when said renewal operation succeedsand making the remaining control regions not renew when said renewaloperation fails; and a position information detecting means fordetecting said position information recorded in said control regionwhich is renewed by said alternating processing means by using saidreproducing means, wherein said collating means further judges, in casesaid position information is not detected by said position informationdetecting means, whether or not said reproducing means is normal andwhether said reproducing means is abnormal or said optical recordingmedium is abnormal.
 6. An optical recording/reproducing apparatuscomprising:an optical recording medium havinga recording area in whichinformation is recorded, an alternating area in which said informationis recorded instead of the recording area when said information fails tobe recorded in the recording area, and a plurality of control regions inwhich position information of the recording area having failed to recordinformation and position information of the alternating area in whichthe information failed to be recorded is recorded instead of saidrecording area; recording means for recording the information in apredetermined information recording area of said optical recordingmedium; a reproducing means for reproducing said information which isrecorded from said predetermined information recording area; a collatingmeans for collating said information intended to be recorded with saidreproduced information obtained by said reproducing means and judgingthat said information was not correctly recorded in said predeterminedrecording area; an alternating processing means for alternatingprocessing to record said information in said alternating area by saidrecording means in a case it was judged that the information was notcorrectly recorded by said collating means; a control region renewingmeans for renewing the contents of said control regions by saidrecording means, wherein the renewing is carried out by said alternatingprocessing means, said control region renewing means carries out arenewal operation with at least one region remaining among a pluralityof said control regions, renewing remaining control regions when saidrenewal operation succeeds and making the remaining control regions notrenew when said renewal operation fails; and a position informationdetecting means for detecting said position information recorded in saidcontrol region which is renewed by said alternating processing means byusing said reproducing means, wherein said collating means records datain at least one of said control regions of said optical recordingmedium, then compares whether said data reproduced by being read incoincides with the information before being recorded within an errorcorrecting capacity or not and judges whether said optical recordingmedium is abnormal or said optical recording/reproducing apparatus isabnormal.
 7. An optical recording/reproducing apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein said collating means judges said optical recordingmedium to be abnormal in case said position information detecting meanstemporarily records position information in said plurality of controlregions and detects said position information in at least one of saidcontrol regions out of said position information temporarily recorded insaid plurality of control regions by using said reproducing means.